Baseline monitoring and characterization of rocky intertidal fish communities in Northern California

A network of new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) has been established in northern California, covering 137 square miles of coastline, with the goal of maintaining commercially and recreationally important species and to preserve biodiversity. This is the first study in California to create a biodiversity and phylogenetic baseline of rocky intertidal fish communities within MPAs and nearby reference sites. Diversity, abundance, and size structure of intertidal fishes were compared among seven sites from Fort Bragg to Crescent City, CA during the summers and winters of 2014 and 2015. A total of 34 species were collected throughout sampling, just three less than the estimated 37 species based on rarefaction analyses, with the highest diversity and abundance observed at unprotected sites. Many young-of-year recruits of recreationally and commercially important species were collected, indicating the rocky intertidal zone may be an important nursery area for some species. In contrast to previous studies in this region, very few rockfish (Sebastes) recruits were found in intertidal areas. Pools had a very high probability of containing fish, but, with the exception of the sculpin Oligocottus snyderi, even the most abundant species were detected in less than half of the pools surveyed. While 28 surveys were conducted, an estimated 34 more would have been necessary to detect all species present in the intertidal zone of this region. A phylogenetic analysis was conducted on DNA Barcode data using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase I gene (COI) of intertidal fish including multiple individuals of the same species from different regions along the Eastern Pacific coast. All species were resolved as monophyletic, indicating great potential for use of the COI gene in species identification

Do Trait Emotional Intelligence and Dispositional Mindfulness Have a Complementary Effect on the Children's and Adolescents' Emotional States?

Mindfulness is both a non-judgmental and present-centered awareness, which has been applied to reduce negative emotions. On the other hand, Trait Emotional Intelligence (TEI) is the way of how good people perceive their emotional intelligence abilities (perceiving, expressing, understanding, and regulating emotions), which are involved in people's social functioning. This empirical study was designed to analyze whether dispositional mindfulness (DM) and TEI have a potential combined role for children and adolescent's emotional states. In a sample of primary school students (N = 318), age ranged from 8 to 16 years old (M = 11.25, SD = 2.20), participants filled a TEI measure (ESCQ, Emotional skills and competence questionnaire) and two measures of DM (CAMM, Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure and AFQ-Y, Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth). Measures selected included: PANAS (Positive affect and negative affect schedule), White Bear Suppression Inventory (a thought suppression inventory), and STAIC (State-Trait Anxiety for Children). Findings pointed out that TEI measures (labeling and expression, understanding, and managing emotions) were positively and significantly related to positive emotional states (especially, positive affect and balance) and negatively with a lower association with state anxiety. However, DM measures were both negatively and strongly associated with negative emotional states (thought suppression, negative affect, and anxiety). Conclusions indicate that a combined effect of both TEI skills and DM based interventions would be more complete than each one separately for better social functioning of children and teenagers

Correlates with Boredom and Positive and Negative Perfectionism.

Using Terry-Short et al.\u27s (1995) Positive and Negative Perfectionism Scale (PNP) and the Boredom Proneness Scale-Short Form (BP-SF), we intend to investigate the relationships between college students\u27 perfectionistic tendencies in relation to boredom proneness. Much research has been done in the area of perfectionism and we aim to further the research by examining specific personality differences in students exhibiting positive and negative perfectionistic tendencies and boredom proneness characteristics. Previous research has shown that personality differences exist between positive and negative perfectionists (Terry-Short et al., 1995). We plan to examine the correlations between depression, procrastination, satisfaction with life, stress, agreeableness, control, boredom proneness, and positive and negative perfectionism

Multi-Objective System Optimization of a Mars Atmospheric ISRU Plant

The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) represents the first time that NASA is demonstrating In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) on the surface of another planetary body. MOXIE produces oxygen from atmospheric CO2 on Mars. It was developed for NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover and produces oxygen with greater than 99.6% purity through solid oxide electrolysis. MOXIE is a small fraction of the scale that would be necessary to produce oxygen for use as a propellant for a human Mars mission, assuming that the empty oxygen tank on a Mars ascent vehicle would be filled from a scaled-up MOXIE system. MOXIE is a small prototype of an ISRU system that would be capable of supporting a crew of six astronauts on Mars. It is unclear, however, how to optimally scale MOXIE and what specific challenges a scaled-up version might face. This dissertation focuses on taking the lessons learned from MOXIE and determining the optimal way to scale it to a full-size system. Specifically, this dissertation defines a systems architecture for an extensible MOXIE system, called the Big Atmospheric MOXIE (BAM), based on the development of a detailed optimization model. The primary subsystems of interest are the solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) stack, the compressor, the liquefaction system, and the heat exchanger. The model has been validated with data from scaled-up SOE cell testing, past MOXIE experiments, and components used in industry. By understanding the scalability and extensibility of key subsystems in the MOXIE system, it is possible to design a larger, optimized systems architecture model for BAM to support the first human missions to Mars. Producing this optimized, validated systems design of a scaled-up atmospheric ISRU plant for Mars has never been done before under these parameters and is the primary goal of this dissertation.Ph.D

Mindfulness: Seeking a More Perfect Approach to Coping with Life\u27s Challenges

In a preliminary investigation of mindfulness and various coping strategies associated with healthy and dysfunctional forms of perfectionism, we explored questions related to Hamachek\u27s (1978) proposition of \u27normal\u27 or positive perfectionists as being able to accept less-than-perfect outcomes in certain circumstances. It was our hypothesis that higher levels of self-esteem would be associated with positive perfectionism, increased mindfulness, less categorical and more dynamic styles of problem-solving, and utilization of more adaptive problem-solving strategies. Further, it was our expectation that positive perfectionists would also experience a greater degree of life satisfaction. This study provides a plausible explanation of how positive perfectionists are able to disengage from non-productive efforts, and to achieve a particular goal and/or switch tactics when necessary by using proactive coping skills

System modeling, graphical user interface development, and sensors testing for the Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE)

Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2018.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (pages 79-80).The Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment (MOXIE) represents the first time that NASA is demonstrating In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) on the surface of another planetary body. MOXIE will produce oxygen from atmospheric CO 2 on Mars. It is being developed for NASA's 2020 Mars Rover and will produce greater than 99.6% pure oxygen through solid oxide electrolysis. MOXIE is roughly 0.5% of the scale that would be necessary to produce oxygen for breathing and use as a propellant for a human Mars mission. Tests are being performed on MOXIE in the laboratory at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). At the same time, a model is being developed to simulate and predict the performance of MOXIE. The ability to predict the performance of MOXIE on Mars is a critical step in preparation for surface operations. Without the ability to estimate inefficient or unsafe operating conditions, MOXIE operations on Mars run a spectrum of risk ranging from loss of efficiency to the loss of the entire mission. Therefore, to predict performance and thus avoid subjecting flight hardware to unsafe conditions, a dynamic model has been developed that simulates MOXIE's operation. Simulink, a package contained within the MATLAB programming language, was chosen as a convenient way to build a dynamic representation of MOXIE. The model was built as a combination of theoretical and empirical values regarding the gas flows, thermal transfers, electrochemistry, and control loops that are representative of the true MOXIE system. The results of this model have been validated against data from JPL's MOXIE testbed laboratory. Continued model validation will occur as JPL acquires new data throughout 2018. This thesis gives an overview of how MOXIE works and how it has been modeled. MOXIE is the first instrument of its kind to leave the Earth, and the modeling of this instrument is similarly unique. As the dynamic model continues to evolve with new data, it becomes a fast and inexpensive way to test MOXIE without subjecting expensive hardware to hazardous conditions. In addition, this thesis covers the development of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows users to easily control the model and view its outputs. Finally, the design and results of construction of a vacuum chamber for testing of MOXIE components are presented. These tests will help to further validate the model and will pave the way for extensibility studies of the MOXIE system.Supported with the NASA Space Technology Research Fellowshipby Eric Daniel Hinterman.S.M

Effects of Chronic Footshock Exposure on Alcohol Self-Administration Following Abstinence: A Novel Model of Stress-Induced Alcohol Relapse

The brain kappa opioid receptor (KOR) system, which is thought to regulate negative mood states, has recently been linked to stress-related effects of alcohol. The current project sought to develop a novel model of stress-induced alcohol consumption, and to examine the role of the KOR system in increased alcohol drinking. Rats were trained to self-administer alcohol, and were then exposed to daily 10 min sessions of footshock during a two-week period of abstinence. Afterwards, rats were allowed to self-administer alcohol to determine the ability of stress exposure to increase drinking. The ability of the KOR antagonist nor-BNI to block increases in intake was also assessed. Examining the effects of stress on alcohol consumption, and its underlying biology, is important because alcoholics often report stressful life events as a major factor in relapse. Development of this model may provide valuable information regarding the biological mechanisms underlying alcohol relapse

Exploiting the Flying Wheels between Corporate Resilience and Performance

Andy Grove, then CEO of Intel, concluded that “(…) bad companies are destroyed by crises, great companies are improved by them”[1], after the company solved the flow bug of its flagship Pentium microprocessor, and went on to redesign its Intel Inside program to dominate the market. More than ever, corporate leaders may also feel the need for resilience, given the broad array of turbulence, but the twist, as Grove said, is that leaders should exploit the complementarities between resilience and performance. This flying wheel is half the journey between turning a bad or great company, we find in our analysis of large corporations during the covid-19 pandemic.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

A Good Crisis (not) Wasted: How Exploiting and Expanding Dynamic Capabilities Shape Corporate Performance During the Covid Pandemic

Using the covid-19 pandemic in a time window of 18 months (from March 2020 to Sept 2021) as a case study of major turbulences, we estimate how dynamic capabilities have shaped corporate resilience and rebound performance, for large multi-billion revenue generating firms worldwide. Four findings stand out. First, dynamic capabilities are positively correlated with boost in profit performance post-covid pandemic peak, but their role and importance act asymmetrically between resilient and non-resilient firms (defined as ability to (not) recover profit pre-covid). Second, among the portfolio of dynamic capability domains studied (innovation, agility, digital technology, sustainability), innovation and agility are the most relevant ones to affect resilience and performance. Third, “doubling down” on dynamic capabilities during the crisis is also important, as the crisis allows firms to seize opportunities at the expense of weaker ones that may be stuck in a retrenchment posture. Third, the seizing/reconfiguring opportunity has larger payoff after lockdown, when market opportunities are no longer constrained. Those findings are general, as they are found for a large variety of 18 industries studied.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe